For the Trade

Email List

Follow us on

This could very well be in the season of wine. Between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, many Americas across the nation will be consuming large amounts of vino. Whether it is a wholesome family dinner or romantic date with your loved one, chances are you’ll be drinking wine. At Su Vino Winery, we know full well that wine is the glue that holds many of these holiday gatherings together. However, the wine you’re drinking might just be counterfeit. Well, maybe not the wine in your house, but the wine in a billionaire’s home. Yes, counterfeit wine is all the rage nowadays. It is a growing problem in the world of vintage wine.

In the article, “Counterfeit wine: A vintage crime,” CBS News writes, “Bill Koch is a man willing to spend a great deal of money on the best of everything, including wine. He is also a man who doesn’t like getting cheated. He says he has spent $4.5 million on 421 bottles of wine that turned out to be counterfeit.” Ok, ok, we know what you’re thinking. $4.5 million on wine? It must be nice having all that excess money to spend on little luxuries! Of course, that’s a lot of money, but what’s at stake here is the integrity of the wine industry as a whole, which is built on trust and a love of wine and its storied history.

You see, counterfeit wine is a lucrative business. In 2006, Rudy Kurniawan, for example, sold $35 million worth of “rare” wines. Upon an FBI investigation, it turned out that Kurniawan had a “fake factory near Los Angeles – bottles, labels, capsules, glue, a re-corking device.” Kurniawan produced bottles of wine that resembled antiques. He swindled many powerful people and could spend 40 years in prison. Although it’s lucrative, it is severely punishable by law. However, that’s not stopping people from doing it though.

So, next time you’re thinking of dropping a lot of dimes on that precious antique bottle of wine, think again, because it could be counterfeit. If you’re looking for great, non-counterfeit wine for a good price, come to Su Vino Winery! Our wine will turn your holidays into something special.